Beast of Burden
by AudreyRye
Summary: Takes place after the ending of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Link returns to his village haunted by all he had endured. One-shot, Lemon. Link/Ilia


I do not own Legend of Zelda or the characters. (Wow... that's honestly the hardest "I do not own" I've put up... it sucks)  
Enjoy the one shot.  
Takes place at the ending of Twilight Princess.

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Beast of Burden

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He noticed every shadow as he walked back from the village. It wasn't that the shadow itself frightened him, the danger was over and he had survived the twilight. But his body was still on alert for what could be lurking within' the darkness. He drew his sword twice between the mayor's house and his. His paranoia heightened as a consequence of forcing himself to go without his chainmail this morning in an effort to apprehend that the threat was over. He still could not wear his simple goat herder clothes. An indescribable sensitivity overtook him when he thought of abandoning his green hero tunic.

He placed a small bundle of hay into Epona's trough. She nickered as she buried her nose in the offering. He stroked her neck absentmindedly.

"It's over girl," he whispered. Resisting the urge to just collapse at the base of the tree and sleep there, he climbed the ladder to his tree house

It was dark inside. He could barely see the outline of the furniture. He removed his gloves, setting them on the table by his bedside. He sighed at the faint triforce, no longer glowing with power but still outlined on his hand. He lifted his scabbard and shield straps over his head and set them down against the bed. Before he could rise he noticed movement under his blanket. He scolded himself for thinking his home would be the one safe place. Abandoning the shield, he pulled his sword free with a distinctive ring.

He heard a gasp just before he lit a lantern.

"Ilia!?"

He lowered his sword until the tip was resting against the floor at his side. The doe-eyed girl stared silently up at him from his bed.

"Ilia, you shouldn't be sneaking around people's houses. Especially people who have sharp objects and have recently been fight-…" he couldn't finish his sentence. For days he had been relating his tale to people of the castle, the village, and domain. But being in his home with the girl he rescued, he couldn't come to speak of his ordeal.

"You would never hurt me, Link," She said with such faith it made him flinch self-consciously.

"You would be surprised what I can do. I was," he whispered.

Hesitantly she scooted across his bed. Upon seeing him sheath his sword, she slipped her legs over the side and rose to her feet. She was wearing a white slip similar to the shirt she normally wore. It buckled around her neck, but instead of the fabric covering her shoulders, all that held the dress up was two thin straps. But what got Link's attention were her bare legs and the fact that the length of the shirt barely met them.

She smiled sweetly at him, noticing the direction of his gaze, "I waited for you..."

A dull pain pricked in his chest, "Why?"

She giggled playfully, "You can save worlds but you still can't see what a woman wants?" When he looked at her confused she took his hand, "I'm here for you, Link."

"Ilia, I... I am not the same person I was before,"

The charming girl disappeared as challenge radiated from her. She flung his hand away and pointed her finger angrily at him, "Do you think I am the same person as before? Do you even know what happened to me?"

Link took an involuntary step back away from the assault. He debated on not answering, knowing he shouldn't. She waited, tapping her foot and clearly not going to let him withdraw. He sighed.

"You lost your memory when they knocked you out at the spring. They took you to the hidden village where the old lady there saved you. You made your way to the city, on the way you found the zorra prince and saved him. You didn't get your memory back until I took you to Kakoriko Village."

"And I can summarize your journey as you left, fought, and came back. But it isn't that simple, is it?" Links stomach turned. He realized that he had no idea of the details of Ilia's capture, "I didn't lose my memory when the arrow hit me at the spring. I lost it when the old lady saved me. She snuck out in the middle of the night and unchained me. I tried to get my clothes before we left, but the guards caught us. As we were escaping I was hit in the head, I'm not sure by what. She was able to hide me somehow until I woke."

"Get your clothes...?" He blinked, understanding beginning to wash over him. He clinched his fists in anger, "What did they do to you Ilia?!"

She took a deep breath and sighed, "The bulbins who took me were curious about me, I suppose. After they separated me from the children, they stripped my clothes and chained me to a wagon." Link struggled to keep from running to find someone to kill. "They looked at me mostly. They through things at me," She twisted her arm around and held it for him to see. Just above her elbow was triangle shaped scar tissue, "They burned me once with the head of a fire arrow. They got brasher every day. The old lady saved me before they could go too far." He had foolishly believed he had made it in time, since she was alive. But the fact of the matter is, he hadn't saved her at all. She looked up at him, her expression gentle, "I have nightmares... Sometimes I wish my memory had never come back."

Guilt and nausea washed over him, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I wasn't there in time to save you from them. And then I made you remember- "

"You saved me, Link. You saved us all. You have nothing to be sorry about. If I hadn't got my memory back I wouldn't have remember my father or the village. I wouldn't have remembered you."

He pressed his hand against the ache that was spreading in his chest, "Your better off that way,"

A rush of images flashed from his memory, forcing him to his knees: the first time he painfully changed into the wolf, the limp body of Colin being held high, the final fatal moments of those he killed. He gasped for air as the room began to spin. She knelt with him, seemingly undisturbed by his actions. She pulled him to her, holding him firmly. He wasn't aware of how long they stayed huddled together. Even with his eyes wide open, all he could see was depictions from the past. The only thing keeping him conscious was Ilia's embrace.

After his breath slowed, and his heart beat returned to normal, he wrapped his arm around her. If she let go he knew he would be lost again. Shame welled inside him for being so weak and showing it.

When his hold on her loosened, she rose to her feet, pulling him with her. She led him to the bed and sat him on the edge, "I know you're tired, Link. But everything will be better with time. You took care of us, now let me take care of you,"

Ilia's fingers ghosted across his cheeks. He sat still as stone as her caresses moved up into his hair. His eyes fluttered shut. Her touch was the only thing that was real to him. Her hands glided through his hair, pushing his hat off and letting it fall soundlessly onto the bed. She knelt before him to remove his boots. His body obeyed her silent commands. His mind and emotions were bare, leaving him empty inside and unable to resist. She loosened his belt buckle, then the ties to his undershirt, finally tugging on the hem. His arms lifted without hesitation and she removed the garb over his head.

The cool night air blew against his torso. He noticed the goosebumps it had already pulled from Ilias soft skin. Her hands traveled down his bare chest. Before they could reach his pants his hands shot up to clutch her's. The abrupt movement startled her, but she did not back away. He held her in a solid grip, not enough to hurt her but enough to hold her back. Heat had begun to rise in his chest, causing him to grow hard. Unexpectedly he felt as if he were the wolf again. His senses were heightened, adrenaline raced through him. He felt a hunger, a need. He kept his focus on their entwined hands, not trusting himself. His body screamed to snatch her and pull her against him, to ravage her. The image both excited and frightened him. The emotions battled. He sternly reminded himself that he was Not the wolf anymore. But he couldn't banish the thought that he was now a threat to her, and deep down that thrilled him.

"Link," his name was a plea from her lips. She took a step back and he let her slide from his hold. He watched her hands lift to unclasp the buckle that held her shirt around her neck, then slowly move to push the thin straps off her shoulders. He kept his stare trained carefully on her face as her slip fell to the floor around her feet. She didn't understand the danger she was in. He could not be trusted.

She pushed his shoulders gently back onto the bed. Her hands moved lower and Link refocused his concentration on the ceiling. He gritted his teeth as she tugged the rim of his pants down his legs. He was bare to her now, stiff and yearning and still refusing to look at her.

He wanted to protest, to call her name in warning as she crawled onto the bed and hovered over him. Instead a growl resonated deep within his chest, causing her to shiver. He fisted the sheets of his bed to steady himself. His hips pressed into the bed to keep from bucking as his member painfully reached for her. She moved over him, blocking his stabilizing view of the ceiling. Her lips parted slightly and her cheeks were flushed. Link saw her heart, full of caring and the desperate need for him. The feral nature inside him began to subside, replaced with realization and love. His lips tugged in a small smile and his eyes softened as one hand lifted to touch her cheek. She purred in approval, enjoying his touch as it moved to the back of her neck and pulled her down against his lips.

The kiss was soft and innocent, pulling the smallest moan from her. As if it was a cue his lips parted, deepening their kiss. Her hands landed softly on his chest above his heart. They parted briefly for breath, both sharing in the other's serenity. As their lips met again, he was unaware of one of her hands traveling down his taut stomach.

She slipped her tongue past his lips just as her hand wrapped around his member, promptly positioning him at her entrance. He gasped alarmingly into her mouth, rising swiftly up on his elbows in preparation to pull away, but he was already there. The feeling froze him as she slowly took him in. She kept one hand over his heart and the other on his shoulder to steady herself. It was the most exquisite pain he had ever felt. All he was, all that existed, was this feeling and the passion on her delicate features as she watched him. His mouth dropped open and he threated to explode. He could feel the wet, the warmth, the tightness... and the small tug of resistance inside her.

Doubt flashed through her widening eyes, her steady decent halted. She locked her jaw and prepared to drop, but Link detained her hips to keep her from moving. He shook his head, unable to speak, trying to communicate to her that she didn't have to do this… even though he felt if she stopped it would be the end of the world.

"Please," Her voice was tiny as she begged him with the one word to take her. His blue irises took her in. He sympathetically nodded his head once. Pressing his feet against the floor he raised his hips toward her and pushing her down as gently as his lust would let him. Her lips pursed together to hold back a sob, but he didn't stop until he was completely sheathed inside her.

He wanted to be still for her, the worry written clearly on his handsome face, but his body betrayed him. His hips began making small circles up toward her. Each small rotation making him painfully aware that every angle sent different waves of desire crashing through him.

When Ilia rose herself up, the torturous feeling of slipping out of her made him cry out. Just before he was completely out she lowered herself back down. A sound unlike any he had ever heard from her lips reverberated through the room. His body began to shake as he felt the last of the chains of his restraint begin to dissolve. As she began to move steadily atop him, his grasp on her hips became his last defense. He knew he was hurting her, but it was the lesser of two evils.

"Take me," She breathed.

He shook his head, "I'll hurt you," he gasped through clinched teeth.

When their hips met again she pushed farther, grinding him into the bed.

"I-I... I wa-want-" her words were cut off as she threw her head back, overpowered by longing as her walls constricted around him. "Link!" She whimpered. He could feel her juices flowing around him.

His mind snapped, the restraints were gone. For the first time he looked down her body, taking it all in; her supple breasts bouncing, the sheen of sweat covering their bodies. His gaze landed where they were joined. The growl that had lodged itself within him bounded into the air. The beast was free.

His hands moved to possessively grab her behind, pulling her sharply against him.

"YES!" She keened as her body jerked with the overwhelming sensation. He bucked her again before flipping her over and throwing her farther onto the bed. He stood above her, catching her off guard by how wild and intensely he stared at her. He purposefully crawled onto the bed, stalking her. His hardness twitched as he watched her back away in transitory fright.

He suddenly lunged, seizing her legs and pulling her roughly under him. She had called for this wild animal, she was his. He forced himself between her clinching thighs, reveling in the domination he expended on her. He thrust himself into her, grunting in pleasure and power as he buried himself. Ilia moaned, taking fist fulls of his hair, franticly trying to find something to keep her from coming undone.

The hums that continually tumble from her made him desperate for more. One of his hands found her breast and kneaded it roughly. His mouth found the column her neck where he began biting and licking fervently, feeling her hammering pulse. Her nails scraped down his back, the pain causing him to bare his teeth. He quickened his pace, plunging into her as her tightness fought him in the most delicious way.

Devoured by the coiling inside him, he demanded her submission. His untamed hands ran roughly down her sides and wrapped her legs around his waist. She instinctually squeezed, pulling him deeper in her. He no longer knew who he was, who she was, only what they were doing.

He rose to his knees, gripping under her hips and bringing her along with him until her back was arched from the bed. With a savage momentum he uncontrollably slammed against her. She cried out and he could feel her shatter again. Lights burst behind his eyes as her sex clutched him, driving him to pound her with new vigor. He wanted to make it last, to make her never forget she was his now, but he could feel himself dangerously close to the edge. The added wetness of her orgasm, the smell of their love, the sated look on her face pushed him over. He threw his head back, with a howl of release he emptied himself inside her.

Exhaustion hit him and he fell into her arms. He settled atop her heaving chest, groaning with the after effects of his release. He continued to sway gently into her, rejoicing in the tiny whimpers it drew from her.

Slowly his mind escaped the lust filled fog. He jerked up, voice full of concern, "Ilia! Are you ok? I-I lost control…"

She grinned and pulled him into a kiss that told him far more than what he had asked for. Breaking away, his matching smile slowly spread as he laid his head back between her breasts.

They slept soundly that night. The knowledge that the beast within would never truly go away was no longer a burden, but a relief for them both. The darkness receded; it was time for the dawn.

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